Domestic, foreign wholesale trade down in Q1

SINGAPORE'S domestic wholesale trade slumped 25.8 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2015, dragged down by the lower prices of petroleum and chemical products.

Stripping out petroleum, domestic wholesale trade would have fallen 12.6 per cent, according to the Department of Statistics on Wednesday. In the first quarter, there was a decline of 38.7 per cent in sales of petroleum and petroleum products.

Other categories that experienced drops included general wholesale trade (-36.5 per cent), chemicals and chemical products (-17.8 per cent), shipchandling and bunkering (-49.5 per cent) and metals, timber and construction materials (-12 per cent).